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Blog Posts about Mt Davidson

Here are blogged musings from our volunteers. Depending on how you access this collection, it will include posts about a specific site or about general issues. Click on the title bar of a post in order to open it up.

June 2009

Our enthusiastic group worked on the T-Rex site this month — so named because the winter storm a couple of years ago knocked down a number of trees in a fashion that looks like a T-Rex rampage was the cause.

The amazing result of this natural clearing is how much native stuff has quickly sprung back once the canopy was reduced and some sunlight could penetrate down to the ground. Now the calamagrostis grass, salal and ferns are most rapidly spreading to fill the empty spaces. In addition, we’ve found lots of wild rose that appears to be very happy now that it has some space to grow:

Right now, Mt D is particularly colorful because the red elderberry’s berries explain exactly how this native shrub/tree got its name:

Walk anywhere on the hill right now and you’ll see lots of elderberry.

Also impressive right now are the lady ferns:

Their fronds are shaped much like bracken fern, though they are much larger and have a more horizontal habit. Look for them along the paths on the north side.

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April 2009

There was still adequate moisture in the soil, despite a dry March, to weed the grasslands effectively, so that’s what our experienced team of volunteers and staff did this month. These are probably the richest and most important areas on Mt D.

Without doubt, though, the most dramatic bloom on the hill is Fritillaria affinis aka mission bells or checker lily:

The most visible problem are the patches of oxalis. This invasive produces small corms that snap off when you pull it, which seems to encourage regrowth. The only successful approach to oxalis is herbicides, but unfortunately the Natural Areas Program staff lack the budget and manpower to deal with these threatening patches right now.